


Bloodstained

by lewdbun



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Abuse, Blood and Violence, Canon Compliant, Demon Blood, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, Injury Recovery, Mind Control, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery, Past Child Abuse, Physical Abuse, Post-Canon, Recovery, Slow Burn, Verbal Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-10-30
Packaged: 2020-04-08 04:30:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19099765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lewdbun/pseuds/lewdbun
Summary: Several months after the fall of the Qliphoth tree, Lady and Trish stumble upon a hidden secret weapon of a new organization who calls for the elimination of all demons. Little do they know, the secret lies in her cursed blood.Updates on Wednesdays





	1. Caged

**Author's Note:**

> The tags I put on this fic are subject to change since there's some later stuff I'm working out, but I hope you enjoy. :3

Hilda woke up to bright lights flicking on in her room without warning - signalling her to get up. The lights illuminated the light grey walls, two white doors, and the sparse amount of furniture in the room. All that was in there was a white dresser, her twin size bed with white bedding and a pillow, a bookcase filled with various books, and a full length mirror that hung next to the dresser. There was also a window… but the view outside was just a hologram of a beach, not a real view. Her room had a bathroom attached, which was just as bland. The sink, shower, and toilet were all white. The walls were the same color as the bedroom, and the floors of both rooms were cement.

It had been like this ever since she could remember. She would wake up, change out of her sleeping clothes - which was an oversized white t-shirt that came down to her knees - take a shower and wash her long auburn hair that went down to her hips. Then dry her hair and put it most of it up in a messy bun, while the rest hung down from her head in small tendrils, and change into a tan button-up dress with a black underbust corset over it, and dark brown boots.

As she looked in the full length mirror, she remembered that she had been hit hard yesterday in the face while training with Helena, a high ranking soldier of the Silver Order. Errol had asked Helena to assist with the training since he knew she wouldn't hold back, and that meant she nearly broke Hilda's arm when she was trying to escape. Before Helena could twist her arm any further, Errol stopped the fight and backhanded her across the face for not fighting back or using her power. 

The bruise on her face was just a painful reminder of what she had been going through for years. He always forced her to try and use either her own blood or a demon's blood to fight back. Every time, she would try to escape - or eventually break down and form some kind of sharp weapon to impale her attacker and make them go away. It was easier to just attack since attempting to escape would just make Errol scream at her for being useless, or worse, he would hit her into submission. She didn't have much of a clue as to why he did this, or even why she was so important to the Silver Order. 

She did know that the organization had plans to wipe out demons, especially after the incident she had heard about involving some kind of tree. That event had began about 6 months ago, and the tree withered and turned to dust just one month ago. Everyone seemed excited about it, so Hilda thought that maybe they would stop using her and release her... Unfortunately, the training exercises continued, even more intense than they had been before.

The only solace she found were the books Errol allowed her to read. A lot of it was classic literature from authors like Blake, Shakespeare, and Poe - to name a few. She grabbed a book and sat down on the bed. Just as Hilda opened the book, the door opened to her room. She expected Errol, but it was someone she wasn't familiar with. Two someones, actually.

A woman entered wearing a white lab coat over a pastel blue dress, black knee highs, and pastel pink shoes. She had dark skin, green eyes, and lavender colored hair that went just past her shoulders. Behind her was another woman with pale skin, short spiky black hair, and red and green eyes - wearing a female soldier’s uniform for the Silver Order. The uniform consisted of a long black coat with silver buttons and silver trim on the hems, a black pencil skirt, black boots, and a black blouse. The coat also had a pin attached to it of a woman with a blindfold holding an apple in one hand and a demon skull in the other with the words "lux in tenebris lucet" engraved on it. Hilda was sure she had never seen either woman before, but she felt oddly at ease.

"Hi! You must be Hilda." The purple haired girl said as she extended a hand to her. "My name is Shayna. I'm an intern for Errol."

Hilda winced at the name, but softly shook her hand.

"Oh my," Shayna said as she noticed the bruise on Hilda's face, "who did this to you?"

"N-No one. I just...I was clumsy is all." She said nervously.

"Look, if someone is abusing you-" The other woman started to say before she cut her off.

"I'm fine! It's okay." She said.

Shayna and the other woman looked at each other. Even though they were both there for different reasons, they knew everything was not okay. Before they could press it further, the door opened again and a tall, slender man with white hair, brown eyes, and a beard with a sunk in face and high cheekbones came in the room. He wore a lab coat over a white dress shirt that had a light brown sweater vest over it, a red tie, khakis, and black dress shoes.

"What are you doing? We need her brought to the training center immediately." The man said as he scowled at the women.

Hilda flinched at those words. Her abuser, Errol, was an impatient man who ran the world around her like clockwork. She figured he had to be the one doing so, since he was the head scientist that had any kind of contact with the overall leader of the organization that was shrouded in mystery.

"S-Sorry. I was going to check her vitals and give her an exam fir-" Shayna started to say.

"We don't have time for such frivolous things! Bring her to the training center immediately or I will have you removed. We're on a tight schedule!" Errol barked at her before turning on his heel and leaving the room, slamming the door behind him.

Hilda was used to this by now, but slamming the door started to cause her to have a small panic attack as she started to hyperventilate. Shayna noticed this instantly and sat next to her.

"Is it okay if I hold you?" She asked softly.

Hilda nodded and she gently wrapped her arms around her. "I'm so sorry. I'm going to find a way to get you out of here." Shayna said as she comforted her.

"No." The other woman finally spoke as she stood there in a seething rage. " _We're_ going to get you out of here. I can't stand men like him, not at all."

Shayna was shocked. Was someone from the organization really going to turn their back just like that? "I know we spoke briefly before we came in here, but I didn't get your name."

"...You can call me Lady." The woman replied.  
"Why are you turning your back on the Silver Order, Lady?" Shayna asked.

Lady chuckled. "Actually, I'm undercover. My partner and I were sent here on a job to get as much info as possible about the Silver Order. I had no idea they were doing something as barbaric as this. As my old boss would say, jackpot!" She said as she did finger guns as if she was making fun of someone she knew.

Shayna breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good to hear. So, what do we need to do to get Miss Hilda off the island?"

Lady put a hand to her chin. "Well, we're on Mallet Island, so we're going to need a boat or plane to leave, for sure. However, the docks are heavily secured so we'll need a big distraction to secure a mode of transportation and smuggle Hilda out of here."

"...I might know of a way to do that, but…" Hilda said quietly. She had come down from her attack and was able to think clearly now.

"But what?" Lady asked.  
"...It would require me to use...that." She replied.  
"What do you mean?" Shayna asked.  
"...Follow me to the training center... and I can show you."

The two of them were shocked, but reluctantly agreed as they lead her to the training center.


	2. Fight For Your Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying really hard to not use any DMC references in the titles until later on, but this one I couldn't resist. Plus Crimson Cloud is a bop, don't @ me.

Helena was flipping one of her twin daggers in the air and catching it as she sat and waited for Hilda on a metal storage crate.

"Where is she, old man?" She asked impatiently.  
"She'll be here soon," Errol said, as he fiddled with the control panel just outside of the ring that was in the training center.

The white haired woman wore her own version of the female uniform: it still had the same coat, but under it she had black boots, black thigh highs that were attached to a garter belt under her black shorts, a black utility belt with a silver buckle, and a black tank top. She also had a pair of icy blue eyes that could kill a man if such a thing were possible. Helena let out an exasperated sigh just as Hilda, the intern, and a soldier she wasn't familiar with entered the room.

"You're late,” she said, glaring at Hilda.  
"S-Sorry." Hilda said, looking at the ground. 

She didn't want to be here, but she needed to show the two women what she was capable of in order to help them help her escape.

"Hopefully we can get some data today. I would hate to have Helena resort to her own tactics should you refuse to perform," Errol said to her, coldly, as he opened a nearby box and handed her a white-gold ring.

Hilda always hated this ring, even as she slipped it on her left hand ring finger. If she tapped it with the side of her pinky, a small lancet needle would pop out on the side facing her palm and she could poke either that same hand or her right hand to draw blood - and form it into a weapon. It couldn't be anything complicated like a gun or a bomb, but she could do something as small as a toothpick or as large as a spear. She was also working on using it as a shield, but it was never strong enough to completely stop Helena's assault.

"Get into the ring already and do that weird blood thing you do, lab rat," Helena said to her mockingly.

She had no choice. It had been like this for a long time now. Anytime she refused, it would be met with either Helena attacking her mercilessly or Errol throwing her into the ring and turning on the controls to block her escape until he decided it was enough. She still showed the same hesitation as to not rouse any suspicion from either Errol or Helena as she reluctantly entered the ring. Once she was in, Errol pressed a button and a blue barrier formed around the perimeter.

"Glad to see you're not taking your sweet time," Helena said, her voice cold.

"Let's just do this already…," Hilda said, quiet.

The white haired woman shrugged.

"Okay. Although, I don't know why you're in such a hurry. It's not like you have somewhere else to be." She said with a chuckle.

While she mocked Hilda, she had already pricked her hand with the ring and was forming a javelin behind her back. Shayna and Lady stood there in shock while Errol had an eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"You know what? I'm feeling generous today. I'm going to turn around and let you get in a cheap shot on me." Helena said with a smirk.

She already knew this trick. The last time she did this, Hilda tried to stab her in the back, only to have her flip around at the last minute and twist her wrist until she finally had to let go of the dagger in her hand. This was followed up with a powerful jab to her jaw which knocked her out cold. When she had come to, she was back in her room and had no idea how much time had passed.

"Sounds great." Hilda said as she kept the javelin hidden behind her.

Helena turned her back to her and stood still. She pulled the blood forged weapon from behind her back and prepared to throw it. Outside of the ring, Errol was hastily taking notes along with Shayna. She was amazed that such a thing could happen, and she wanted to know more about it. 

As for Errol, he had never seen Hilda resort to these kind of tactics before. If she could just draw a little bit of blood from her with that weapon, he could see how it interacted with Helena's blood - as that was one test that eluded him. Sure, he could get a sample of Helena's blood and have Hilda make a small sharp weapon to poke the sample with to see how it would react, but he was forbidden to by the leader of the The Silver Order himself. He was never able to get a clear reason as to why that test was forbidden.

Hilda threw the javelin at Helena's back. The room went silent as everyone waited for it to hit her. As it drew closer, she whipped around and hit it out of the way with one of her daggers which caused it to shatter. Before Helena could respond, Hilda had already thrown another one and this one grazed her cheek before hitting the barrier and shattering. 

She could feel the blood trickling down her face from the cut and wiped it off with the back of her sleeve. Helena could feel rage boil inside of her, and she started to glow a shimmering grey as her devil trigger form started to surface. She couldn't figure out why the woman who would normally cower from her was now putting up a fight. She also couldn't figure out why the cut on her cheek wasn't healing up like it normally would, as she felt more blood drip from it.

As Helena tried to figure out what was different this time, she didn't notice that Hilda had already made a rapier with her blood. She figured it was now or never as she charged forward, and managed to stab her in the shoulder. Helena cried out in pain and fell backwards onto the floor. She continued to scream as Hilda's hair started to get streaks of white in it. Errol immediately turned off the barrier and pressed a panic button to call for backup before rushing in to stop her from killing Helena. Shayna continued to take notes as Lady looked on in horror. 

She had seen a lot of strange things in her line of work, but this took the cake. She knew that Helena was a demon just by her looks alone - since she looked like a female version of her boss, but had the shitty personality of his twin brother. As for Hilda, she questioned herself about whether or not she was a demon too. Her hair was auburn a minute ago, but as her blade stayed connected to Helena, it gained more streaks of white. The only thing she could think of is that she might be a quarter demon just like Nero, but even he had that white hair. There was also a possibility that she could be something else entirely.

Errol tried to pull Hilda off of Helena as she continued to scream in pain by putting her into a bear hug from behind and dragging her away. He was almost unable to keep his grasp on her as she struggled. Fortunately for him, the guards came in and helped him restrain her as a few others went over to Helena to check her status. The guards looking over her noticed she was in a pool of her own blood and still screaming.

"That fucking bitch! What the hell is that freak?" She yelled.

The guards tried to administer first aid to stop the bleeding, but she just shoved them away as she attempted to get up and attack Hilda. However, she hadn't realized that she had already lost a lot of blood and fainted onto the floor. The guards tried again and started to staunch her bleeding. Once they had it under control, they carried her out of the room. As for Hilda, she was starting to realize what she had done. She had completely blacked out when she stabbed Helena - and had no idea what had just happened.

"Take her back to her cell." Errol said bluntly.

The guards nodded and escorted her back. Errol turned to both Lady and Hilda.

"Both of you, forget what you saw. Do not mention it to anyone." He said as he handed out his hand to Shayna. "I'm going to need to ask you for your notes."

She complied and handed them over. Errol put them in his lab coat as the two of them left the training center.

"Great," Lady said annoyed as they headed back to Hilda's room, "now what are we going to do? He took your notes."

Shayna chuckled and pushed her glasses up on her face. "He didn't take into account that I have a photographic memory."


	3. Planning Stages

Lady and Shayna walked through the light grey metal halls, lit by white fluorescent lights. It had taken some time getting back to Hilda's room - since they wanted to play it cool, and not rush. When they finally made it back to her room, they found a platinum blonde woman with tan skin standing over Hilda’s bed, her exhausted body lying in it. The woman wore a black, long sleeved dress, that went to her ankles, with grey feathers around the v-shaped plunging neckline that went to her navel. The fancy dress had slits on both sides which revealed her toned thighs and legs, in addition to her black strappy stiletto heels.

"My, my," the woman said, "so this is the girl that caused that damage to The Butcher of The Silver Order?"

"Who are you?" Shayna asked, accusingly, ready to fight. However, Lady held her back with her arm.

"She's fine. I see you broke out that old disguise, Trish." Lady chuckled.

The woman smiled. "You know you like it." 

With a hand, she grabbed and pulled it off in a fancy, fluid motion. The fabric covered her body just long enough for her to shapeshift, to show her true self. There was now a pale woman in a black leather crop top corset with matching skinny jeans, black collar, black arm brace on her left arm, and black high heeled boots with long blonde hair and blue eyes.

"The hell?" Shayna said in shock.  
Lady smiled. "Shayna, this is my partner, Trish. Trish, this is Shayna, she's studying demons."

"Nice to meet you." Trish said as she extended a hand to her and they shook.  
"L-Likewise." Shayna said, still in shock of the quick change.

"So, I heard a little bit of what happened. Tell me everything you two know." Trish said.

Lady and Shayna took turns filling Trish in on everything they knew up to this point. While they brought her up to speed, Shayna had managed to find a notepad for her to write down all the notes she had that were confiscated by Errol, in addition to the new information she was getting from Trish. 

While Trish had been in disguise, she found out that after Helena had been attacked, she had been brought to the medical ward on the floor above them. It took some time, but they had managed to finally get her demon regeneration powers to kick in, having been stopped by Hilda. The regeneration was needed gravely, so she could stabilize her vitals, and recover. However, Helena recovered very quickly once it kicked back in, and was near instantly back to wanting to kill Hilda - especially for injuring her so gravely. 

It took several nurses, doctors, and guards to hold her down long enough so she could be sedated. The order came from the unknown leader of The Silver Order to have Helena sedated until further notice; he knew full well a simple shot wouldn't keep her down for long, but long enough for an IV drip to be put on her. As for any orders about Hilda, he mainly just wanted to keep her away from Helena to avoid any further injuries. She was to stay in her room until further notice, as well.

"I see..," Lady murmured, after Trish’s briefing on everything that had happened in the last few hours. "A demon who was unable to regenerate after being attacked by... possibly another demon? I can't say I've heard anything like that before."

Trish sighed. "I hate to say it, but I wish our fearless leader was here right now. He might have some insight into what Hilda is." She said.

"Speaking of leaders, did you find out who's pulling the strings of The Silver Order?" Lady asked her.

"Nope, all the higher-ups are tight lipped about it. Although, I did find out _where_ their leader is." Trish said with a smirk.

"Great! Where is he?"

Trish's brow furrowed. "He's on an upper floor, but it's heavily guarded. You need a special card to access the floor he's on, as well. Even if we were to mug someone for that card, we don't have enough strength to get past the guards alive. There are just too many, even for us."

"Shit," Lady said as she put a hand on her head, "so what do we do now?"

"Well, I think we've collected more than enough info for Morrison to give to his client. Plus, we found someone who can help us take them down before they do something stupid." Trish said as she smirked again.

"But we don't have a clue as to what she is exactly. What if we release something that we're not supposed to?" Lady said now concerned.

"She obviously wants out of here if she was willing to inflict that much damage." Trish said as she crossed her arms.

"May I suggest something?" Shayna asked.  
"What is it?" Both demon hunters asked.  
"Why don't you ask her what she wants to do when she wakes up? She's still her own person after all."

"I agree." Lady said as Trish nodded.

As they came to the decision, Hilda started to wake up.

"Morning, sleepyhead." Lady said to her teasingly.

"W-What happened?" Hilda said as she continued to wake up.

"We were hoping you'd tell us. What's the deal with your blood?" Trish asked.

Hilda looked at the blonde warily. "It's okay, she's with Lady." Shayna explained to her.

Hilda nodded, slowly and reluctant. "I'm... not quite sure myself. All I know is I can make weapons and shields with it."

"Why did your hair turn white when you stabbed Helena?" Lady asked.

"My...hair?" Hilda asked as she started to remember what happened. "Is Helena…"

"She's alive." Trish said.  
Hilda sighed. "I can't say I'm glad, but maybe this will be a good thing." Hilda said quietly.

"How so?" Lady asked with a raised eyebrow.  
"You're still planning on taking me with you... Right?"

Lady and Trish looked at each other. They were still unsure of what to do, but they knew that The Silver Order having someone like Hilda as a hidden ace up their sleeve would bite them in the ass later. They nodded in silent agreement, knowing the other must be thinking the same thing.

"Of course." Lady said.  
"We'll need to get more information about what you are so we can better help you, but we also want to make sure you don't get used anymore." Trish added.

"I can get you that information." Shayna said.

The two hunters looked at her. "How, and how quickly?" Trish asked bluntly.

"It's not going to be easy." Shayna said, shaking her head.

"Nothing ever is."  
"I'm going to stay here, and send you two the information. I want you to get Hilda out of here, and make sure she stays out of The Silver Order's crosshairs." She said with a serious look on her face.

Hilda stood up, in shock. "You can't! What if they find out you're helping us?" She gasped, with worry in her voice.

"It's okay. They have all my personal information so if I mysteriously left, it would raise a lot of red flags... and out of us, I would be the first person they’d look for. Unlike you guys, they could track me down quickly," Shayna calmly explained.

"How are you going to send us the information?" Trish asked.

"With this,” she said as she tossed something that looked like a thin black box to Trish, who caught it with ease. "It's not tied to me, or them, in any way... so you don't have to worry about them tracking you with it."

Upon closer inspection, turning it over in her hands, Trish discovered that Shayna had given her a smartphone. "I assume it has service?"

The scientist nodded. "Do you know how to use it?" She asked.

"I've had phones like this before, but they tend to get damaged on the job. Plus, Hell doesn't really have the best reception."

Shayna chuckled. "Fair enough. It might not be a bad idea to teach Hilda how to use it, then."

"We should probably get back to addressing the elephant in the room. How do we get Hilda out of here safely?" Lady said, a little bit of insistence in her voice, as she sat on the bed next to Hilda, who just quietly listened.

"There's a seaplane in the docks," Trish said as she whipped out a set of keys. "Guess who stole the keys while on recon?"

Lady smiled. "I love you."  
"I know you do," Trish replied, with a smirk.  
"So... that just leaves getting Hilda to the plane without raising suspicion." Shayna said.

"That's covered too - since we have our disguises, and we've kept a fairly low profile," Lady said with a short nod.

"Sounds good! We should do this sooner rather than later, though," Shayna added with a smile.

Both demon hunters nodded and Trish transformed back into her earlier disguise. Hilda sat there, silently. She was beside herself. On one hand, she wanted to stay until they could find a way to bring Shayna with them. On the other hand… she knew that Shayna’s explanation was right: bringing her along would be too much of a liability.

"After you get enough information... what happens then?" Hilda asked.

"I'll go to Redgrave City. I grew up there so I know the place like the back of my hand - and I can hide out somewhere until you're ready to come get me." She replied.

"We'll be in Fortuna for a little bit. We're going to drop Hilda off there since we have two colleagues that can watch her, one of which happens to be our boss's nephew." Trish said.

"Actually, are we able to leave her there? I thought Kyrie was due to have her kid soon," Lady asked, a frown crossing her face.

"Ah. Damn, you're right. Nero would kill us...," Trish said as she rubbed her forehead, thinking.

"Why not just call him and ask?" Shayna suggested. "Worst case scenario, won't he know someone she can stay with?"

"Maybe?" Lady said as she looked at Trish for an answer.

After a few moments, she sighed. "Screw it, we don't have any other options and we're running out of time," Trish muttered, as she started to dial the number to Nico's van.

She didn't remember Nero's number and she was unsure of the time, so calling the lethal artisan was the next best thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave me some comments on what you think of the story so far. It's still going to be a few more chapters before I add the sons of Sparda, but they're coming. :)


	4. Take Off

The phone rang in Nico's van as Kyrie was sweeping the floor of the garage. She laid the broom up against the wall with care and walked into the van to answer the phone with grace and ease.

"Devil May Cry, Fortuna branch, how may I help you?" She said cheerfully.

"Kyrie?" Trish asked, surprised to hear the other woman.  
"Y-Yes?" Kyrie replied, curious.  
"It's Trish, I need to ask you something."  
"Hi Trish! It's been a while. What do you need?"  
"We have a client we need to hide. Redgrave is no good since she's a prisoner of The Silver Order and they have a base of operations there."

"... I'm not sure if here is much safer… If it’s them you’re hiding from."  
"What's going on there?"  
"Well... some of their researchers have been coming here to visit the sites of the hell gates."

"But Dante and Nero helped destroy them, why would they...wait. You don't think they're trying to use the fragments to reopen Hell, do you?"

"Nero speculated the same thing..."  
"Damn, nowhere is safe it sounds like."  
"Not necessarily true: they've been sticking mainly to the forests and the ruins, which is on the complete opposite side of Fortuna Island from us. As long as the client doesn't go over there, and the researchers don't come over here, your client should be fine."

Trish sighed. "That's a relief. However, is there a contingency plan in the event the researchers do come over here?"

"Hmm... I'd have to talk to Nero when he comes back. Him and Nico are out shopping for me right now, since it's.. eheh, starting to get a little hard for me to get things done."

"Oh yeah, I've been meaning to ask: how's the baby?"

Kyrie giggled. "They're doing great. Nero and Nico want it to be a boy. I kinda hope it's a girl."

Trish chuckled. "I'm glad to hear you guys are doing well. We'll be over there as soon as we can."

"I'll let Nero and Nico know. They'll be happy to see you. Take care!"  
"You too."

With that, both of them hung up the phone.

"I take it we're able to bring Hilda there?" Lady asked, looking at Trish.

"Yeah," Trish replied, nodded at her, and then looked at Hilda. "You're going to need to keep a low profile and follow whatever Nero and the others say."

Hilda nodded in acknowledgement. "Of course."

"Well, I guess it's time to put the plan into action..," Shayna said as she dug in her pocket and handed her ID card over to Lady.

"What's this?" Lady asked.  
"I need you to hit me and knock me out. That badge will get you to the dock where the seaplane is without any problems. This will also give me a good alibi as to why you have it," Shayna explained.

"Are you sure about this?" Lady asked as she got into a fighting stance.

"I want to make sure you guys get out of here with Hilda safely. Don't worry about me." She said as she stood there, waiting to be hit.

"Thank you, for everything..," Hilda said, sadly.  
Shayna smiled at her. "This isn't goodbye, Hilda. We'll see each other again and talk more."

Hilda held back tears and nodded. Shayna turned to Lady and nodded, bracing herself for impact. Lady was ready to strike, but... Suddenly, Trish pistol whipped Shayna with one of her guns, Ombra, knocking her out from behind. Shayna's body dropped to the ground face first after being knocked out cold.

"Okay, well, that works too," Lady said, blinking at the woman’s limp body.  
"I just wanted to make sure she stays out long enough for us to leave," Trish replied, and shrugged, nonchalant.

"We're really doing this, aren't we?" Hilda asked hesitantly as both hunters looked at her.

Lady nodded. "No turning back now," she said as she started heading towards the door.

"Let's go, it's showtime," Trish said to Hilda, before turning to follow Lady to the doorway.

Hilda took a deep breath and followed behind them as they all went into the hallway. Lady scouted ahead to make sure that there were no guards or cameras they had to worry about. Hilda and Trish followed closely behind, but far enough that Lady could warn them. They finally got to a large metal door that was labeled docks that had a scanner next to it. However, there was a guard watching the door. He wore the same coat as Lady and Helena, but had a black shirt and black pants with boots.

"I'll handle this." Trish said as she walked up to him and shifted back into her disguise. Meanwhile, Lady and Hilda crouched behind a stack of metal containers.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Hilda asked Lady, whispering.

"Relax, she's a pro at this,” she reassured her.

The guard let out a whistle as Trish approached him. "I don't think I've seen you before. Come here often?" He said, looking her up and down.

"No, I'm new. I was told I needed to go to the docks?" She said, seductively, her eyes narrowed with a smile.

"Sorry lady, only authorized personnel. Someone stole the keys to the seaplane so the area is on high alert," he said, though he gave a smile even so.

"Surely, you can make an exception..?" She said as she stroked his face with the back of her hand.

He shivered and blushed. "W-Well, I can give you access just this once if you do something for me." He stammered.

"Go on..," she replied flirtatiously.

The guard looked around. "There is a closet around the corner, want to have some fun?" He asked with a smirk.

"Oh, you're so naughty! Let's go." Trish replied with a fake giggle and hugged the guard's arm as he lead the way.

"Now's our chance." Lady said as she quietly crouch walked over to the scanner and scanned Shayna's card. Hilda followed closely behind her. The scanner beeped and there was a single click noise signalling the door was unlocked.

"What about Trish?" Hilda asked in a concerned whisper.

"She can handle herself, let's go." She said as she slipped through the door quietly while Hilda followed suit.

The two of them snuck over to some more metal crates as some more guards passed by. Once they passed, Lady looked over and saw the black seaplane sitting in the docks guarded by a few more of the Silver Order’s workers.

"Dammit." Lady spat. "It's too guarded."

Suddenly, she heard Trish's voice over one of the walkie talkies that the guards were carrying.

"Calling all guards, there's been a breach! There is an unconscious scientist and the project has escaped!" She said in a fake panic, her voice a higher pitch than usual. "There's a group that's attacking as well!"

Over the walkie talkies, they started to hear gunshots. "I need backup at the office near the training facility! Any available guards, please, hurr-"

There was a gunshot and a loud screeching noise followed by static. The guards near the plane scrambled out of the area, leaving it unattended and unguarded.

"Now's our chance, let's go!" Lady said as she grabbed Hilda's arm and made a run to the plane.

As they approached it, Trish came out of the door they entered from and tore off the disguise before joining them. She hurriedly pulled the keys out of her pocket as the intruder alarm went off and unlocked the plane before opening the door. Lady jumped in and helped Trish and Hilda inside of the plane. Once they were inside, Trish got into the pilot's seat and Lady sat in the seat next to her as her copilot. Hilda sat in the closest seat and buckled up quickly as the two hunters prepared the plane for take off. The engine of the plane roared to life and the propeller started to turn.

"Wait! The plane is still attached to the dock!" Lady said over the roar.

Hilda heard this and unbuckled herself immediately to undo the rope that was attached to the plane. She opened the door and jumped down while Lady tried to get her back inside after undoing her own seat belt. Her eyes widened as she saw the door to the docks open and a group of soldiers came out with Helena in the front.

"Stop them!" She shouted as the guards behind her rushed over to capture Hilda.

Hilda took a deep breath - and remembered that the ring she only used during training was still on her finger. It was ironic that the thing she hated all these years was now her key to freedom, as she activated it to make a knife from her blood to cut the rope to free the plane. Once it had been cut, she threw the knife at a guard that got too close which stuck itself into his shoulder. This caused him to fall over and trip a few of the guards that were behind him. She didn't want to hurt anyone, but she wanted to finally see the world outside of her cage.

Helena charged over to where Hilda was to stop her from escaping, only to have Lady pull Hilda back into the plane and close the door quickly. "Go! Now!" She yelled at Trish.

The blond demon started to pilot the plane out of the docks and out to the ocean that surrounded Mallet Island. Before Helena could reach the plane, it was already out of the gate and heading out to the rest of the world. She gritted her teeth as she watched the plane fly away. Once again, she had failed and her rage boiled over as she kicked the guards that were on the ground into the water.

"Son of a bitch! Why the fuck am I surrounded by incompetent twats!" She screamed.

"Easy, Helena. Not all is lost." Errol said.

The white haired scientist with auburn eyes had appeared behind Helena moments after she started one of her infamous tantrums.

"The fuck you mean 'not all is lost'?! How are we going to explain this to him?! He's going to lose his shit!" She shrieked at him as she stepped on the back of the guard who got stabbed.

He gave her a cold look. "We don't have time to ponder what ifs. We need to report to him right away." He said, unphased by her tantrum.

The white haired woman scoffed and headed towards the door that lead back inside the building. Errol looked at the seaplane as it disappeared to a small speck on the horizon.

"Enjoy your freedom while it lasts. You have no idea who you'll be dealing when you come back." He muttered under his breath before turning back to the building to meet with his boss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please be sure to like, comment, reblog, and so on. The next few chapters are going to close out the beginning part of the story and finally go over what Dante and Vergil have been up to. :)


	5. Cause and Effect

It was quiet while Helena and Errol rode the elevator up to the summit of the headquarters. The tension was thick in the air after what had happened. They knew they failed, and now they had to face the consequences. The door opened and both the soldier and the scientist walked out of the elevator into a marble hallway with a black carpet that led to an ornate set of silver metal doors and torches that lit the way to it on each side of the walls. The doors opened on their own as they approached.

Inside the room was dimly lit compared outside of it. The black carpet led up to a throne made out of the same marble as the hallway. In the throne, sat a grey cloaked figure with boney hands that were a darker shade of grey. Once the two of them were close enough, Errol and Helena knelt in front of the throne, heads bowed.

"Tell me what happened," the cloaked figure commanded, in a gravelly voice.

"Forgive me, my liege," Errol said, "your daughter has escaped."

"With whom?" The figure asked.

Errol took a deep breath. He couldn’t lie here. "Those demon hunters you warned us about. The one that used to be your pawn, and the other, who is a human..,” he said, hesitantly, knowing that this would anger him.

The figure slammed his fist on the arm of the throne, rattling it. " _Who_ is responsible for this?! Do you have any idea what could happen if they find out her secret?!" He shouted at them, before going into a round of coughs.

"I take full responsibility, sir! Please, sir. Allow me to fix my mistake; allow me to track her down!" Helena spoke quickly, in a slight panic.

There was a silence that hung in the air after she spoke and after the figure in the chair stopped coughing.

"... Very well. However, Butcher...I will be sending the Baker and the Maker with you." He spoke.

Helena's face turned red with anger. She was, along with two others, part of a special operations team meant for missions like this. They each had their own code-names, based off of their talents. For Helena, she was known as ‘the Butcher’, consistently able to kill quickly and efficiently. She absolutely hated working with them - since they would constantly insult her for being a demon; and she preferred to work alone overall.

"They're just going to slow me down! I can handle th-" she started to speak in her anger, before being slammed full-body into the wall behind them by an unknown force.

"Is that _insolence_ I hear?" The figure asked in a cold tone.

Helena shook off the attack as she pulled herself off the ground. "Sorry, sir. I spoke out of turn," she murmured, looking at the floor.

"Know your place, Butcher. Had you not let Hilda escape, I would be more inclined to listen to your request. However, we need her back as quickly as possible. You know well... I cannot afford any more mistakes. We need her to be at full power before the next full moon, so I may be completely resurrected," the figure said, bluntly.

"It won't happen again. I will have her back before the ceremony. I promise," Helena said, quietly.

"You are dismissed. Prepare to leave as soon as possible,” he said, with a wave of his hand, as if he was shooing her away.

Helena stood, and left the room without another word. Errol stayed, however, knelt in front of the figure. Once the door closed, the cloaked figure spoke again.

"How far along would you say my daughter is with her power?"

Errol cleared his throat. "After the last training session, I would say she's nearly ready to become your weapon. Taking back Hell will be laughably easy," he said, with a grin growing on his face.

"Excellent... I would expect nothing less from you.., Machiavelli."

The figure spoke, as he applauded the scientist. A slow, but not mocking, clap. Errol bowed, honored.

"It's only a matter of time before we reign over Hell once again, and end the Sparda bloodline once and for all, Lord Mundus,” he replied.

"I will _relish_ that day." Mundus smirked under his cloak.

Errol gave a smug smile in return, before feeling his phone vibrate. He pulled it out of his lab coat pocket and saw that there was a message to come down to the lab.

"I'm sorry... my Lord, I have some pressing matters to attend to with the fragment we found. I will send you our findings, as soon as we have them,” he said, before bowing again and leaving the room.

\---

Shayna woke up in the infirmary a little while later. Her head still hurt from being pistol whipped by Trish, but she understood that Trish had only wanted to ensure she was out for the duration of the escape.

"You're awake," a familiar voice said to her. She looked up to see Helena glaring at her.

" _Crap, this is bad._ " Shayna thought to herself.

Helena grabbed a chair and sat next to her bed. She spoke, voice stern. "I need you to tell me everything that happened."

"I…don't remember much. I took Hilda back to the cell just as Dr. Errol had instructed, with that guard. And then... she ambushed me," Shayna lied to her.

Helena continued to glare at her. Shayna knew what she was trying to do. She wanted her to crack, and give too much information, or even make her confess. After a few moments of silence, though, she stood up from the chair.

"If I find out you're lying to me, I will make your nightmares seem like a happy place," Helena threatened her.

"I swear... that's all I know," Shayna said, quietly.

There was a tense silence between them before Helena finally spoke. "Fine. You're being transferred to Redgrave to help with the Hellgate research. Get ready to leave ASAP. We're heading out on the same ship," she said.

"Y-Yes, ma'am..," Shayna murmured as Helena left the room.

She tried to stay calm and not overanalyze the situation. However, it gnawed at her that this was too much of a coincidence: that she was given marching orders to go to Redgrave with Helena. It was a very likely possibility that she was onto her, and her involvement with Hilda's escape. All she could do now is hope for the best and find a way to get out from under Helena's radar before the woman figured everything out.

\---

Errol had gone down to the research lab after the meeting with his boss. He had a small group of researchers who were working around-the-clock, studying the chunk of a Hellgate that had been brought over from Fortuna. Getting it had been difficult, since the residents, including a brash demon hunter and the granddaughter of a gunsmith, had been doing constant patrols in the area and always fought anyone who came close to any of the sites.

"Sir!" A researcher said as he hurriedly ran up to Errol.

"What is it?" he asked, tiredly.

"We found something big."

"How big? Show me," the scientist commanded.

The two of them walked over to a round room, that had a computer outside of it, and the gate fragment in the room. On the computer, there were two faded dots in the center along with several other dots that were bright on the screen that surrounded them.

"We think we found.. something, or someone, in Hell. We wanted to get your permission to try and bring them here with the fragment," the researcher said.

Errol stared at the screen for what seemed like hours and smirked. "Let's give it a try and see if we can bring it here. Close the containment chamber first. This could get stressful, if it's not what I think it is."

Another researcher came over and closed up the chamber while the other pressed at the buttons on the keyboard in front of the computer. Errol stood and watched with scrutiny, as the fragment started to glow a crimson red. It was dim at first, then grew brighter until it was nearly blinding. There was a loud explosion inside of the chamber and the power cut off. After a few seconds, the generator kicked on and there was black smoke inside.

"Turn on the ventilation, quickly!" Errol said to the researcher.

They started to frantically press buttons until there was a humming noise and the smoke quickly dissipated. Errol and two of the researchers got closer to the containment chamber. As they looked inside, they noticed that the fragment was completely charred and there was a white haired man unconscious on the ground with a red coat and a large sword that looked like it was forged from hell itself.

Errol ran over to the controls, practically giddy with excitement, as he checked to see if the fragment could bring the other dot to him. However, his excitement was short lived... His face contorted into a frown as he looked down to glare at the screen. Both dots were gone, and the other dots that surrounded the area were all that remained.

\---

Vergil and Dante had been fighting off demons constantly in Hell, even after sealing it up. The two brothers were at their limit, as they lay on the ground exhausted, surrounded and outnumbered by the monsters.

"Heh, heh heh. I'm glad we finally got to spend some quality time together, Verge," Dante said, laughing between breaths.

"This isn't how I imagined my life ending...but. I'm glad I'm not alone this time, brother." Vergil said.

The two of them waited for the demons to take them, the monsters approaching slowly. Then, there was a sudden, bright red light and the demons that had closed in backed off. Dante screamed aloud in pain as the light surrounded him.

" _Dante_!" The elder twin cried out as he struggled to get on his feet.

He reached out to him to pull him away from the light, but it was too late. Dante's body disappeared, and all that was left behind was a strong rift of demonic energy.

"You've got to be kidding me..," Vergil muttered under his breath, "I guess I have no choice."

He had seen this before. The last time he did, though, was when he was escaping Hell after breaking free from Mundus's control. That time, he didn't have the Yamato to use as a catalyst to help him open a portal - so he had used his own body instead, which nearly killed him then and there. Vergil grabbed his sword from the sheathe, and stabbed the rift to collect the energy that spewed from it. The sword started to glow brightly, rejuvenated, and he pulled it out from the rift before slicing at the air to open a portal. Time and space itself rent easily by the Yamato, a glowing portal tore itself open for him.

"Looks like my story isn't over yet…," he said, quietly to himself, as he walked through the opening.

It closed up behind him before any of the demons could reach it.


	6. Arrival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. I'm going to post two chapters to catch up. We'll be back to normal schedule next week. ^^

"We're here!" Lady said.

Hilda slowly woke up to a beach and a small town peeking over the edge of a cliff. Trish had already undone her own seat belt and climbed over Hilda to get to the door. When she opened it, all she saw was the ocean beneath them.

"We're swimming for the rest of the way. Do you know how to swim?" Trish asked her. Hilda shook her head. "Okay, hold onto me then. Lady, you go first."

"You got it." She said as she jumped out of the plane into the ocean.

Hilda unbuttoned the bottom part of her dress to make it easier to get on Trish's back before hopping on piggyback style. The two of them ducked before jumping into the water below. Hilda held onto her tightly as the two hunters swam to shore. Once they were close enough, she let go and walked up onto the shore.

"Everyone, get back!" Trish shouted as she started to shoot up the plane with her pistols.

Hilda and Lady ran behind a nearby boulder before hearing a loud explosion and the sounds of metal flying. After a few moments, they came out from behind the rock to see Trish completely unharmed and the plane now reduced to scrap metal as it sunk into the ocean.

"That was kinda wasteful if you ask me!" A voice called from a nearby cliff that overlooked the beach.

Everyone looked over to see a dark curly haired, tan skinned woman with tattoos and red-framed glasses smoking a cigarette wearing cowboy boots, blue jean shorts and a yellow crop top.

"Good to see you, Nico!" Lady said as she waved at her.  
"Where's Nero?" Trish asked.  
"I'm here." A voice said.

Another person came near the cliff. This one was a man with short spiky white hair and blue eyes with a large sword strapped to his back. He wore a blue jacket over a red shirt, dark blue jeans, and black boots.

"Who's the redhead?" Nico asked as she took a drag off her cigarette.

"This is Hilda. We saved her from the Silver Order." Trish said as she introduced her.

"Those dumbasses?" Nero asked.  
"You've met them?" Lady replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course, they've been causing all kinds of problems here. We should probably head back to town so we can talk more." Nero said as he motioned them to come closer.

The three women climbed up the rocks carefully to meet them and then climbed into Nico's van to head back to Fortuna City before anyone else came by to investigate.

"Everyone buckled in?" Nico asked from the driver's seat.

"With your driving? Of course we are." Trish said with a sassy tone.

"Alright, smoke em if you got em!" Nico said as she turned the ignition and the van's engine started to purr. Suddenly, she floored it and everyone was shot back into their seats as Nico drove back to town like a madwoman.

"Nico, I gotta ask," Lady said, "where did you learn how to drive?"

"I taught myself! Why?" The artisan said as she rolled down her window and lit a cigarette.

"No reason," Lady said while holding back a chuckle.

"So Hilda," Nero said as he waved the smoke away from his face, "what can you tell us about the Silver Order?"

Hilda's chest tightened as she recollected all the horrible things that happened to her. "Is there anything in particular you'd like to know? I'll try to answer as best as I can." She said.

"Hmm...I guess why you were there would be a good place to start." He said.

"I've been there all my life. From what I understand, my blood is... special." She explained.

"How so?" Nero asked.  
"I can turn it into sharp objects. Also, I think it has an adverse reaction to demons somehow since I nearly killed someone with demon blood in their veins with it." She said nervously.

"That so? I'll need to remember not to piss you off then." He said with a chuckle.

"Are...you a demon?" Hilda asked hesitantly.  
"Yeah. My dad is half and from what I've been able to dig up, my mom was human." Nero told her.

"I see. I'll be sure to be careful with it, Sir Nero." Hilda responded.

Nero chuckled again. "You can relax. I'm not sure what rules they made you follow over there, but you can just call me Nero." He said with a friendly smile.

Hilda blushed. "I-I'm sorry." She stammered, embarrassed.

"You're fine. Anyway, tell us more about yourself." Nero said.

"T-There's not much to say, really." She said shyly as she looked at the ground.

"How about... what's your favorite food?" Nico interjected as she finished her cigarette and put it out in her ashtray.

"There's different kinds of food?" Hilda asked confused.

"You poor thing. What did they feed you there?" Nico said with a small hint of sadness.

"Umm...it was this weird squishy stuff. It was brown and kind of grainy? Sometimes I would get orange juice with it after using my blood since I would get light headed."

"Was it... oatmeal?" Nico asked hesitantly.  
"I believe so."  
"All they fed you was oatmeal and juice?"  
"Y-Yes? Sometimes chicken, but it was boiled and tasted horrible."

"That chef should be banned from all kitchens for life for making you eat that!" Nico said disgustedly as she lit up another cigarette.

"Hey Nico, don't forget we need to get a few things from the market before we go back to the orphanage," Nero said as he waved the smoke away from his face again.

"I know, dad. Gosh." Nico said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes and also nearly rolled over the van as she turned sharply to get to the road that lead to the market. With the screech of the tires as they hit the edge of the cobblestone road leading up to it, the van came to a halt, launching everyone forward.

"We'll be right back. You guys stay with Hilda and make sure no one sees her." Nero said to Lady and Trish as he exited the van and walked with Nico to the stands with various vendors.

Hilda sat quietly as Lady and Trish used Nico's workbench to do routine maintenance. She hadn't gotten a good look outside, so Hilda decided to peek out the curtains just slightly. Her eyes widened as she noticed the statue that overlooked the market. It was a statue of Sparda that had remained intact even after the incident that sent the Order of the Sword into disarray. As she looked upon the statue, Hilda felt a searing pain shoot through her head and heard a distant scream before blacking out.

"Hilda? Hilda!" A voice called out to her from the darkness.

She started to come to and saw a very concerned Lady and Trish sitting on the floor hovering over her. "W-What just happened?" She said as she rubbed her forehead.

"You screamed and fainted. Are you okay?" Lady asked.

"I think so…" Hilda replied quietly and pointed at the window she had been looking out of. "What can you tell me about that statue?"

Trish peeked outside the window Hilda was looking out of before she fainted. "You mean the one of Sparda in the town square?" She asked as she closed the curtain tightly.

"Sparda...why does it sound so familiar? Why does that statue make me feel uneasy?" Hilda contemplated out loud.

"I thought you said you've never left Mallet Island?" Lady asked confused.

"That's the thing. I haven't, but I feel like I have. It's almost as if it was another life or…" Hilda said as she trailed off.

"Or your memory was altered," Trish said bluntly.

Hilda looked up in horror. "But how?" She asked as the terror of an existential crisis loomed over her.

Trish took a deep breath. "Now I understand why Morrison wanted us to investigate The Silver Order for that journalist. I thought it was just a coincidence that it was on that island, but now I'm certain there is more to this than just a lead."

"Trish, what is going on?" Hilda asked still visibly shaken.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but I need to know: what is your earliest memory?" Trish asked bluntly.

Hilda thought long and hard about her earliest memories. Most people would have memories of when they were children like learning to ride a bike or going on a trip with their parents. Not her. 

"The furthest back I can remember is when I awoke on an operation table and saw Errol for...I think the first time?" She said.

"How long ago was that?" Lady asked.  
"...Maybe 30 to 40 years ago?" She said as she questioned her own validity of that statement.

"That can't be. You look so young." Trish said.  
"Sorry, I'm probably wrong. I wish I could remember more." Hilda said as she looked at the ground.

"It's a start. It's kind of ironic that this happened when you saw Sparda and you said your earliest memory was that long ago." Trish said matter of fact.

"Why's that?" Hilda asked confused.  
"Nero is about that age. Although, you probably don't know his dad." Lady said as she stood up and went back to repairing her signature weapon.

"It's possible she might know Vergil, but we need to find a way to restore her memories," Trish said as she helped Hilda off the floor.

That name caused another flash of pain to go through her head and she screamed as she fell back to the ground. Lady and Trish rushed back to her side.

"Trish, you know something don't you?" Lady asked her hesitantly.

"That confirmed it just now. Her memories have been sealed off with a curse. I don't know why, but it's clear she knows of Sparda and Vergil." Trish said as she held Hilda.

Lady's eyes widened with shock. "You don't think-"

"What's wrong with Hilda?" Nero asked as he rushed inside of the van. The two other hunters hadn't heard him open the door.

"N-Nothing. The stress and shock finally got to her, she'll be fine." Trish said as she shifted so Hilda's head was in her lap.

"Let's get her back to the orphanage quickly!" Nico said as she entered the van behind Nero holding a bag. She handed the bag to Lady and quickly jumped into the driver's seat before starting the van up.

Hilda weaved in and out of consciousness in Trish's lap. There was too much for her to process. All she could think about was the name Vergil and wondered why that name filled her with so much pain and regret as she slowly blacked out. As she fell unconscious, she saw a small flash of her past come into view. Hilda was standing in front of the statue of Sparda and there was someone next to her. She couldn't see the figure, but she did remember something blue and a necklace before the vision faded to black.


	7. Recall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the second chapter for this week which would have been this week's update. We're starting to get into heavy plot territory now. :D

_I'm sorry. It's for the best._

 

_Why?_

 

_I don't want to hurt you. Please, go. Find the power you seek and forget about me._

 

_I can't. Not without an explanation._

 

_@#$ &, please. Staying with me will only get you killed._

 

_...This is because of them, isn't it?_

 

_Just go._

 

_...Fine. Just know I will break your chains when I'm done. I promise I'll come back to you and we'll leave this life behind us._

 

_…I know you will._

 

Hilda woke up sometime later. The words she heard swam around in her head as she noticed three children looking at her. Once they realized she was awake, they scurried out of the room. She sat up and instantly looked for her glasses since she realized they weren't on her face and everything was a little blurry before finding them on the nightstand next to her. Hilda picked them up and put them on as she heard the voices from outside of the room.

"Miss Kyrie! That lady is awake!" One of the kids shouted from down the hall.

"Okay, okay. I'll be there in a moment." A woman who Hilda could only assume was Kyrie responded.

"Let me help you. I'm not sure how she's going to react since she hasn't met you before." Nero spoke.

"You're probably right. It sounds like she's been through a lot from what you guys told me." Kyrie said. The voice sounded closer and Hilda heard footsteps coming towards her door.

After a few moments, a heavily pregnant woman with reddish orange hair wearing a white long-sleeved sweater, black flats, and a brown skirt that came to her ankles entered the room with Nero who was holding a tray of food. At this point, Hilda was already sitting up in bed and she could safely assume this was the woman everyone had mentioned earlier. Kyrie drew closer and pulled up a chair next to her that she hadn't noticed until now since she was still very much out of it.

"Hello, you must be Hilda," Kyrie said as she extended a hand out to her. "I'm Kyrie."

Hilda shook it. "It's nice to finally meet you." She said shyly.

Nero gently sat the tray of food in front of her. "You've been out for a while. How do you feel?" He asked showing concern.

"I feel a little light-headed," Hilda said as she looked over the food in front of her. The tray had a plate of breakfast food which consisted of bacon, scrambled eggs, and toast with strawberry jam on it. In addition, there was a glass of Apple juice as well. She drowsily grabbed the toast and started to munch on it.

"Well, I'm not surprised. You've been out for a whole day. We were starting to worry something bad happened." Nero said as he stood behind Kyrie.

"A whole day?!" Hilda asked in shock nearly choking on her toast.

"Take it easy! We figured you needed the rest after what you had been through getting here." Nero gently scolded her.

"Where are Lady and Trish? I need to see if they've heard anything from Shayna." She asked as she took a drink from the glass.

"They're downstairs with Nico watching the kids for us and cleaning up breakfast. As far as I know, they haven't heard from her." Nero reassured her.

Hilda looked down at the plate and took a deep breath.

"Is something wrong?" Kyrie asked concerned that Hilda didn't like the food.

"Nero...what can you tell me about _Sparda_?" She asked. That name still hurt her head thinking about it so it made her wince when she said it aloud, but nowhere near as bad when she initially saw the statue.

"You're still concerned about the statue?" Nero asked slightly confused.

"I need to know. I think him and your dad have something to do with my memories if what Trish said is true. Maybe if you talk about them, I'll remember more." Hilda said almost pleading to him.

Nero shrugged. "It's worth a shot, but if it gets too much, I will stop," Nero said firmly.

"That's fair." Hilda agreed.

"I remember parts of the story, but I feel like Kyrie can explain it better so I'll let her handle the legend part. I can explain everything past that." Nero said as hugged her from behind and kissed her head.

Kyrie smiled and let out a soft chuckle. "Very well. Long ago, a demon king by the name of Mundus ruled over the land. He was extremely powerful and no one was able to stop him from his reign of terror over both demons and humans alike. Until one day, Sparda, his second in command, turned his back on him and decided to protect humans instead of ruling over them. He managed to seal him and the demons away in Hell with the help of a priestess at the cost of his own powers and was hailed as a hero by the humans. Afterward, he disappeared and no one knew what had become of him."

"The story doesn't end there," Nero added. "Many years later, he met my grandmother and they had twins. One of those twins is my dad and the other is obviously my uncle. After they were born, Sparda disappeared for good. However, Mundus returned and sent his demons to attack his home. My grandmother was killed in the attack while my dad and uncle escaped. The two of them lead very different lives and didn't see each other until they were in their teens. That was around the time that my dad was here and met my mom."

"Did he mention what she looked like?" Hilda asked out of curiosity.

Nero shook his head. "No. Although, before he and Dante went to Hell, he did give me this." He said as he pulled out a book from his jacket and handed it to her.

Hilda felt a dull pain build in her head as she touched the book. It was leather bound and had gold horizontal lines embossed into it along with the letter V in the center on the front of the book. The pain grew slightly as she opened it and recognized the photos that accompanied the poems inside as she flipped through it.

" _I curse my stars in bitter grief and woe that made my love so high, and me so low_." She quoted gently as silent tears came down her face.

Kyrie handed her a handkerchief and she wiped the tears away. "Did you remember something?" She asked.

"Not anything substantial, but I have seen this book before. I would recognize it anywhere." Hilda said with a sniffle as she handed back to her.

There was a faint flash of another memory. She remembered laying her head in someone's lap and a voice whispering sweet nothings in her ear while they sat under a tree together. Just like before, she couldn't see the person she was with, only a necklace and the color blue.

"I would say that's pretty substantial," Nero commented, breaking her out of her daydream.

"How so?" Hilda asked.

"That could mean one of two things: you met V when the tree was still around or you know Vergil. Judging by everything that's happened, I'm going with the latter." Nero said as he stretched his arms out.

Hilda rubbed her head from the pain she felt in her head again. "Where can I find him? I feel like if I saw him again, it might bring everything back." She said.

Nero cringed. "Yeah, there's just one huge problem. He's in Hell right now with Dante and there's no way either one of us can enter." He explained.

"What about the Hellgates? Couldn't we use those?" Hilda asked out of desperation.

"Those gates shouldn't be used lightly. Besides, they're fragmented and unstable. No one should be using them for anything." Nero argued.

Hilda was silent. She didn't have a counter argument to convince him with. Her knowledge on what those gates did and how to properly use them was gravely limited, but deep down, she knew he was right. Trying to use them irresponsibly was a death sentence. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door that broke the tension. Everyone looked over and saw Lady and Trish standing in the doorway. Trish was holding the phone that Shayna had given her and she was trying to maintain a poker face.

"We got in touch with Shayna, but all we got from her was a recording and some files she was able to dig up. Do you feel up to checking them out?" Trish asked.

Hilda nodded as Nero started to leave after grabbing the tray of food that Hilda had eaten most of at this point. "I'll go grab some more chairs, it sounds like we're going to be here a while." He said as he left the room.

Trish handed the phone to Hilda. "I have the video pulled up already. Just tap the triangle to get it to play." She explained.

Hilda nodded and did so. The video started off with Shayna adjusting the camera so it would stay up on its own before sitting down and clearing her throat.

_Hey guys, sorry I couldn't update you sooner. I think they're onto me so I was sent to Redgrave. Helena has been watching me constantly, but she was just sent to Fortuna to help someone known as The Maker. Since you're probably already there, I would be extremely careful. There's been a huge spike in demonic activity in Fortuna, so The Silver Order has their hands full. To be quite honest, I would leave and go somewhere else if you can. That aside, I did find out some interesting data._

As Shayna adjusted her glasses and took a deep breath, Nero came back with chairs and set them up so he, Lady, and Trish could sit down.

_Back on Mallet Island, an experiment was done on a fragment of the Hellgates. A demon was recovered from Hell and is now being researched._

Nero's eyes widened. "What did she say?!" He asked in shock. Everyone shushed him as Shayna removed her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose before putting them back on.

_The rest of the files on that are classified, but from what I heard, they found the legendary demon hunter, Dante. As for his brother, he is missing. Some are speculating he was killed. Others are saying that he was able to teleport away with that sword he has. I know you guys know him personally and you want to save him, but please, don't try to take them on headfirst. I'm sure both of them would agree. Anyway, I'm short on time. Hilda, if you're watching this, I sent some files over that were on your record. I know this has been traumatic for you, so don't rush into reading them right now. Give yourself some time to breathe. Read them when you're ready to know the truth of who you are. I'll join you guys soon. If you don't hear from me in about two weeks, don't come searching for me. Take care._

With that, Shayna ended the recording and everyone sat in stunned silence.


	8. Protected

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay. I moved to another state and settling in took longer than I expected. For now, I will continue to post on Wednesdays. :)

A few hours had passed since Hilda, Nero, Kyrie, Trish, and Lady had viewed the video, and they were left with more questions than answers. By then, everyone had moved downstairs, sitting at a long dining table while Kyrie watched over the three orphans she and Nero looked after as they played outside.

"So, what's our next move?" Trish asked as she broke the deafening silence between everyone.

"I vote we check out The Silver Order's camp," suggested Nico.

"We might as well kick a hornet's nest at that point," Lady commented.

"Why not the ruins? We haven't looked at them since that time we got my daddy's research papers!" Nico recommended.

"Too close to their camp," Nero spoke as he shot down the idea.

Hilda quietly stood up and walked to a nearby bookcase to see if she could find anything as everyone continued to argue about what to do.

"Well shit, we need to do something! Your dad is MIA and Dante is imprisoned by them. We can't just sit here and wait for them to make a move," Nico said, crossing her arms as she became restless.

"I know, but anything we do they're going to just use it as ammo to get more people to join them. We're heavily outnumbered and outgunned," Nero explained.

"That didn't stop you and Dante from taking on The Order of the Sword," Trish spoke up. "Besides, The Silver Order is going to paint people like us in a bad light no matter what we do. Why not just say fuck it and look for answers?"

"...I don't want them to hurt Kyrie. Or the kids..." Nero admitted, openly.

There was a silence. Everyone understood how important family was to Nero and this was a fact they couldn't ignore. Hilda stopped her searching as an idea popped in her head and turned to everyone.

"Why don't I stay here and protect them?" 

Everyone looked at her in shock before Nero finally spoke, slowly and with concern. "Are you sure you can handle it?"

"She has some fighting skills. Lady and I can vouch for her; since we wouldn't have been able to escape Mallet Island without her," Trish backed her up.

"Then it's settled." Nico said. "Hilda and I will stay here while you three go do some recon."

Everyone nodded in agreement as Kyrie came back inside with the three boys she and Nero looked after. "You guys look happier. What's going on?" She asked as the three boys ran to the bathroom to wash up for dinner.

"We're going to be checking out The Silver Order after dinner. Hilda and Nico are going to be staying behind in case anything happens," Lady explained.

"Sounds good! Just be safe out there. I made stew so that should be good enough to keep everyone fed." She said with a smile.

Nico's face lit up. "Oh boy, I love your stew! I'm going to make sure I have room for seconds." She said excitedly.

Kyrie giggled and Nero got up to help her set up for dinner. The three boys came back and instantly sat next to Hilda. They sat quietly and stared at her.

"It's impolite to stare." Nico scolded them.

"Who is she?" A dark haired boy spoke up.

"I'm H-Hilda." She introduced herself nervously.

"Are you an orphan too?" The second boy, who looked a little younger than the dark haired boy, asked.

Nico kicked his chair, frowning. "Mind your manners!” 

"N-No, it's okay. I think I might be... so I guess I'm just like you three." Hilda said softly.

The three boys' faces lit up and they scooted closer to her. Nico, Trish, and Lady all chuckled at what was happening. Hilda continued to answer their questions, without ever once getting annoyed or upset with them.

"What are your names?" She finally asked them.

"I'm Julio. This is Kyle and the one behind him is Carlo." The dark haired boy said as he introduced the other two orphans.

"I can ask them to stop at any time. They're only doing this because they have a little crush on you." Nico told her.

"Ew, no we don't!" Julio exclaimed.

"Then why are you sitting so close to her and asking so many questions?" Nico teased them.

"Alright, calm down you guys." Nero said as he carried a huge pot of stew and set it in the middle of the table as Kyrie handed out bowls and spoons.

Everyone took turns grabbing food and started to dig in. Nico was the first to finish and grabbed a second helping while Hilda slowly ate it.

"You okay, Red?" Nico asked her.

"Yeah, just restless..." Hilda replied.

"Don't worry, we're going to have a girls' night with Kyrie once we get your admirers in bed," Nico said, quietly so the boys wouldn't hear.

"A girls' night?" Hilda questioned her.

"What!? You've never had one before?" 

Hilda shook her head.

"You're in for a treat then." Nico responded with a smile.

Soon after, everyone had finished eating and they started to help clean up the table. Once everything was cleared, Kyrie and Nero herded the three boys upstairs to get ready for bed while Lady and Trish got together the supplies they would need for tonight's mission. Nico went outside for a much needed cigarette. Hilda looked through the bookcase again, and managed to find a book on the history of Fortuna. How accurate and up to date it was, she didn't know for sure. Kyrie and Nero came downstairs as Lady and Trish walked over to the backdoor, weapons strapped to their bodies. Nico came back in from the garage carrying the cases that held the Red Queen and the Blue Rose.

"I just finished fine tuning the girls. Try not to be so rough with them this time!" She said as she half-scolded Nero, setting them down carefully on the dinner table.

"Got any devil breakers for me?" Nero asked with a smirk.

"Got any devil parts for me?" She asked with a sassy tone.

Nero sighed and pulled out part of a demon he had killed earlier out of his pocket before handing it to her. "Sorry, it's nothing special this time. I'll try and bring you something more interesting while I'm out."

"I'll make do with this for now," she said as she handed him a bag of breakers, "Try not to break all of these."

Nero scoffed. "Make them more sturdy then!" He complained.

"Get me some better demon parts then!" Nico argued back.

"Easy, you two." Kyrie gently scolded both of them.

"Sorry, Kyrie." The two of them apologized.

Nero, Trish, and Lady finished getting everything together they would need, after just a moment. It was a good amount of supplies for investigating the ruins and the camp where The Silver Order was staying at. Together, the group headed to the backdoor, so they wouldn’t be seen under the lights that illuminated the streets if they had gone out the front door. Lady and Trish were the first to go outside while Nero stopped to give Kyrie a soft kiss.

“Be safe out there.” Kyrie spoke softly.

“I’ll be back before you know it.” Nero said with a smile.

“Ugh, just go already, lover boy!” Nico teased him.

“Yeah, yeah,” he murmured as he walked through the threshold, and closed the door behind him.

The three women looked outside, through the window next to the door, and watched as the night’s darkness shrouded them until they were gone.

“So, what did you have planned, Nico?” Kyrie asked.

“Well, we can watch either a scary movie or a sappy chick flick while we do each other’s nails. My nail polish is just about completely chipped off!” Nico responded as she went to a nearby closet and grabbed two movies and a tackle box.

“Hmm, that’s a tough choice. What do you think, Hilda?” Kyrie asked her with a smile.

“Umm, I...have never watched either kind of those movies...let alone a movie in general, across...” Hilda replied, quietly.

“We might want to do the chick flick then, I don’t want you having any nightmares,” Nico said as she started to take the movie out of the case.

“N-No! That’s fine! We can watch it if you guys want. What’s it about?” Hilda spoke hurriedly. She didn’t want to ruin the night just because she had been sheltered for as long as she could remember.

“Are you sure? It has vampires, and not the kind that sparkle or are devastatingly handsome, you know?” Nico questioned her out of concern.

Hilda nodded.

“Okaaaay,” Nico replied as she put the chick flick back in its case and pulled out the horror movie instead before putting it into the DVD player.

The movie started up as she opened the tackle box to reveal a variety of nail polishes and manicure tools, as well as tools for nail art. Hilda took a deep breath to relax. After all, there was no telling how things would go... She hoped her skills would be enough to protect the people who were now protecting her.


	9. Controlled

Vergil's portal opened up just outside of The Silver Order's camp, near the ruins of Fortuna Castle. He quietly stepped out of it, and the portal closed up instantly behind him. It had opened into a thick part of the forest that surrounded the ruins, so cover was easy to find. A good thing to note, especially since he heard footsteps coming closer. As they approached, Vergil ducked behind the thick bushes, listening in.   
  


"Did you hear about the Son of Sparda that Errol's been experimenting on?" A male voice asked.   
  


"Yeah, that crazy scientist somehow pulled him out of Hell. Apparently, his twin was there too, but he disappeared before Errol could recharge the machine and grab him as well," another man's voice replied.   
  


"I wonder what they're going to use the younger twin for?"   
  


"Who knows? Though, rumor has it that he's at our camp right now, in Simon's tent."   
  


"Of course he'd be the one holding him. He  _ is _ The Maker for a reason."   
  


"Better him or The Butcher than The Baker. He would rather toast him."   
  


"D-Did you just make a pun?"   
  


"No! ...Well, maybe."   
  


"Just because you're a dad doesn't mean you get to make garbage jokes like that."   
  


The two men laughed and continued to walk, passing Vergil. Once they were gone, and he was alone with his thoughts, he realized something. He had heard Errol's name before. Although, it seemed like such a distant memory... like something from before - before he ended up under Mundus's control. His head hurt, trying to recall the memory of who that name belonged to. Even though he knew he remembered the name, all he could come up with was a woman with a red dress. This wasn't the first time that specific memory had appeared, either. The last time was at the top of the Qliphoth, when Dante told him Nero was his son. It had been the first time in years he had even a single thought of her, but… that could be thanks to Mundus corrupting him all those years ago.   
  


Vergil slicked his hair back as if he was shaking the thoughts out of his head, stepping back out of the brush. Quickly, he got back on the trail that lead to the campsite. Once he was in sight of the camp, he used the cover of night and slowly snuck around the tents to find the one that Dante was in, inspecting them carefully. It took some time, since the campsite had at least 20 tents, five of which were  _ much _ too big to simply be barracks.   
  


" _ If Dante saw those, he'd probably say something smart like, 'Looks like the circus came to town and they have plenty of clowns,’ _ " Vergil thought to himself.   
  


As he looked around, he saw one tent that was heavily guarded, catching his interest. As he watched, a man wearing glasses with blue hair in a bowl cut style was about to enter. It wasn't his choice in hairstyle that caught Vergil's eye, but the fact that his outfit was notably different than the other soldiers. His uniform still had the signature black coat and boots, but under it, it looked like a black marching band uniform with fancy grey trim on it. The two guards saluted him in acknowledgement, and he walked inside the tent before they went back to their at ease position. Sneaking into the tent looked nearly impossible: there were several guards surrounding the entire perimeter, keeping watch. And while a demon like Vergil could go in, blade drawn, and cut down most of them before they could think twice... he had to consider his twin's safety. He couldn't tell how many soldiers were inside, and if they had anything special that could cause harm to him or Dante.   
  


" _ It's no use, _ " he thought as he furrowed his brow, " _ I'm going to need to call on Nero to do this. It would be foolish to try and rescue Dante on my own. _ "   
  


\---   
  


"Damn, the place is loaded with guards..." Lady complained, as she looked through her binoculars at the camp.   
  


The three demon hunters spied on The Silver Order from the edge of the forest, trying to figure a way to get in easily.   
  


"No kidding, it's like a makeshift fortress. They have to be planning something big to have all this here," Nero added.   
  


"Do you think they have Dante in one of those tents?" Trish chimed in.   
  


"Hard to say. Regardless, we need a way in," said Nero, as he continued to assess the situation.   
  


"Well, I am still wearing their uniform. I could probably sneak in?" Lady suggested.   
  


"They know your face already, and I'm not letting you risk your life," Trish responded, voice firm.   
  


"Aw, you're worried about me!" Lady teased her.   
  


"N-Not right now, Lady. I'll go. You.. you two stay here and wait for my signal," Trish stammered as she blushed, looking away from Lady’s smirk.   
  


"Be careful out there," murmured Nero, as Trish morphed into a soldier.   
  


"You do the same, yeah?" Trish replied, before walking to the camp.   
  


It was easy for her to blend in with the other members without drawing suspicion to herself. Everyone was too busy preparing for something as supplies were being moved out of crates down an assembly line of sorts. Trish continued to walk through casually, until she saw a heavily guarded tent. As she drew closer, one of the guards came out of the tent and walked up to her.   
  


"There you are! I've been needing to take a break for 30 minutes! Explain yourself before I report you to Captain Simon,” the guard barked at her.   
  


"Sorry sir," Trish said calmly as she saluted him, "I was in the infirmary... I think I ate something bad."   
  


The guard glared at her and eyed her incredulously, suspicion in his gaze. Slowly, he spoke. "I haven't seen you before... State your name and rank, now."   
  


Before she could respond, another guard came out of the tent, staggering and gasping.  He appeared quite bloodied and disheveled, definitely shaken up. "We need back up in there! That fucking demon is too powerful!" He shouted, to anyone who would listen nearby.    
  


The guard who had been interrogating Trish had looked away from her just long enough to examine the injuries on his fellow soldier, but that was enough. When he realized this error, he looked back to find she was gone. Trish had already snuck her way inside the tent.   
  


Not many things phased her, but the sight of Dante naked and attached to a few strange machines by needles and wires shook her to the core. She could  _ tell _ something was wrong with him, even if she may not have the same knowledge a human would. The wisecracking, pizza-loving boss she had come to know for all these years… was now glaring at her with lifeless eyes, the usually-bright blue without any of its normal sparkle.   
  


"Dante?" Trish spoke carefully, concern in her voice.   
  


Suddenly, the son of Sparda lunged at her and tackled her to the ground, ripping everything attached to his body in the process. Trish, being of demon descent herself, was able to easily throw him off of her and into the side of the tent. The force of the legendary demon hunter's body ripped through the tent and landed outside. Getting to her feet, Trish ran outside, and grabbed him by the shoulders roughly.   
  


"Dante! Dante, can you hear me? You have to fight this!" She shouted at him as she shook him.   
  


Her efforts to shake some sense into him were useless, as Dante threw her to the ground, wrapping his hands around her neck. Trish struggled, grabbing at his hands, trying to not only break free, but to get at least one of her guns to shoot at him. Darkness started to envelop her as she struggled to breathe, until she felt Dante's weight shift and Trish was suddenly able to breathe again. She coughed and wheezed as air returned to her lungs - and as she was recovering, a hand reached out to her.   
  


"Can you stand?"    
  


She felt like she had heard this voice before, she knew who it had to be. And as she looked up, her guess was confirmed correct. The older twin, Vergil, was now standing over her.   
  


"You picked a good time to show up. Your brother is out of control right now…,” muttered Trish, as he helped her up.   
  


"So it would seem. Did you come here alone?" Vergil asked her, calmly.   
  


"No, your son and Lady are here too. They're on the other side of camp," Trish answered him, as she drew her guns.   
  


"Go get them. I'm not sure if I can take him on my own for very long while he's like this. Dante is extremely unpredictable at the moment. Go!" Vergil ordered her.   
  


Trish nodded and ran towards where Nero and Lady were hiding. Everyone in the camp was hastily preparing to evacuate as word spread quickly that their experiment was now loose. The second they saw her, the two demon hunters came out of their hiding spot.   
  


"What's going on?" Nero asked.   
  


"It's Vergil, he's here, and he needs help subduing Dante,” Trish responded bluntly.   
  


"What's wrong with Dante?" Lady asked.   
  


"We don't know. The Silver Order did something to him. He's not himself,” Trish answered.   
  


"Let's go." Nero said as he brought out Blue Rose and started to rush towards the chaos.    
  


Lady and Trish followed close behind them until they were cut off in the middle of the street. There stood the man with a blue bowl-cut style hair and silver rimmed glasses, wearing a uniform of The Silver Order.   
  


"Well, well," the man spoke tauntingly, "if it isn't the bastard child of the eldest son of Sparda. I take it you've come to save your uncle?"   
  


"Who the hell are you!?" Nero questioned him, his short fuse already lit.   
  


"Oh! Where are my manners? I am Captain Simon of The Silver Order's special ops, but you can call me: 'The Maker'."   
  


"What did you do to Dante?" Nero growled at him.   
  


"Not much, really. I just administered a serum… that will make him do as I say. He's quite strong in both mind and body, but he's no match for my intellect. I was able to perfect the dosage easily,” Simon replied with a smirk and adjusted his glasses, "In other words, no one can control him except for  _ me _ ."   
  


Nero tried to rush at him, anger in his face, only to be knocked into the dirt on the ground. "What the hell?" He asked, as he wiped some blood off of his lip with the back of his hand. He’d bit down when he was hit, splitting it.    
  


No one had seen what had hit him. It was as if he had hit an invisible wall. Then, Lady was knocked into a nearby tree and Trish was pinned to the ground.   
  


"You insolent fools! You really think I came unprepared?" Simon coldly said, smirking as he cackled at them.


	10. Split

Nero looked around at his surroundings as he tried to figure out what was attacking him, Lady, and Trish. He needed to act fast so they could reach Vergil and help him stop Dante, but Nero could tell Simon wouldn't let him leave without a fight. As he looked around, Nero realized something. The moonlight and light from the nearby torches weren't reflecting off of Simon's glasses like they should. It was as if the light was being diffused by something that was in front of him. Then, an idea hit Nero.

"Aw, what's the matter? Is the descendant of Sparda giving up? Pathetic." Simon cruelly spat at him.   
  


Nero chuckled. "I'm only getting started." He said as he shifted into his devil trigger form.   
  


"There we go! I was wondering if you were just a demon wanna-"   
  


Before Simon could finish his sentence, Nero propelled his body towards him and attempted to strike him. There was a loud boom as the attack was blocked by the wall again and The Maker of The Silver Order laughed at him.   
  


"Don't you get it? You can't hit me!" Simon shouted at him condescendingly.   
  


"I wasn't aiming for you." Nero said as he smirked at him.   
  


"What?!" Simon said in shock.   
  


He had realized what the demon hunter had done, but it was too late to counter it. The large chameleon-like demon that was protecting him was now visible to everyone. On its forehead, there was a pearlescent jewel that had a large crack in it.   
  


"But how?! My creation was a masterpiece!" Simon whined.   
  


"Maybe you should create something that doesn't diffuse light next time." Nero replied in a cocky tone.   
  


Simon growled. "You'll pay for this! You haven't heard the last of me!" He yelled before climbing on top of the demon and riding it into the forest to escape.   
  


Nero let him escape since he was more concerned about helping Vergil save Dante. He couldn't let him run around and potentially hurt someone while he was acting like this.   
  


"Trish, Lady, you guys okay?" He called out to them.   
  


"Oh yeah, just peachy." Lady weakly said as she gave a thumbs up while she lay on her back near the tree she was slammed into.   
  


"I think I'll manage. Lady, you stay there. Nero and I will go help Vergil." Trish answered as she dusted herself off.   
  


"Got it." Lady said as she laid her arm back down on the ground.   
  


The two demons rushed towards the sound of clashing metal, but when they got there...it was too late.   
  


\---   
  


The two brothers fought with all their might, especially Vergil. However, he was struggling to keep up with Dante's attacks. Normally, fighting him wasn't this hard, but he had to consider that whatever was controlling him was also giving him an edge. The attacks from his younger brother became increasingly relentless until finally, Dante knocked the Yamato out of his hands. The sword swung in a circle for a few moments in the air before sticking itself into the ground as Vergil fell back with a swift kick to the ribs.   
  


Dante's cold eyes looked at the sword before he threw his aside and grabbed the Yamato by the hilt before pulling it out of the ground it was lodged into. He walked up to Vergil's body that was still recovering from the kick and raised the sword above him. I'm that moment... time moved slowly as Dante plunged the sword into Vergil's chest. As he cried out, Nero and Trish appeared and could only look on in horror.   
  


The words "not again" were the only thing on everyone's mind. There was no telling what would happen if Urizen returned and if V would still be strong enough to hold on until Nero and everyone involved with Devil May Cry could rejoin the two. While they stood there in shock, Dante grabbed the Yamato and pulled it out of Vergil before opening a portal with it and leaving them behind.   
  


"No!" Nero shouted as he rushed towards the portal. Before he could reach it, the portal closed and Dante disappeared with it and the Yamato. He fell to his knees and punched the ground. "Dammit!"   
  


"Nero, I need your help!" Trish yelled.   
  


He looked over in her direction and saw she was sitting next to Vergil's body. He was still intact, but his body was trying to shift into someone else. Nero got up and rushed over to him.   
  


"N-Nero, I need you to help me stop the split." Vergil said weakly.   
  


"How? The Yamato is gone." Nero stated bluntly.   
  


"I-I don't know." He said, defeatedly. "I'll hold myself together for as long as I can, but the process has already started.   
  


Trish's face lit up. "Hilda! We can ask Hilda to use her power."   
  


"Do you think that's a good idea?" Nero questioned her with a raised eyebrow.   
  


"It's the only idea we have." Trish replied.   
  


"W-Who's Hilda?" Vergil asked.   
  


"There's no time to explain, we need to get you back to the orphanage, now." Nero said as he helped him up and shifted back into his devil trigger form.   
  


"I'll meet you two back there. I'm going to go get Lady." Trish said before running back to her.   
  


Nero nodded and rushed into the forest in a full sprint as he carried his father with their arms over each other’s shoulders for support.   
  


\---   
  


"Geez, they're taking an awfully long time, don't you think?" Nico complained as she did Hilda's nails.   
  


"I'm sure they're fine. Nero is very strong, and so are Lady and Trish." Kyrie assured her.   
  


Hilda was focused on the movie as it got to a part where a jumpscare was about to happen. Just as the tension was about to be released, there was a loud slam on the back door which caused all three of them to jump and scream.   
  


"Damn, I messed up on your nails. Sorry, Red." Nico apologized as she noticed she spilled a small amount of black nail polish on her hand.   
  


"It's fine." Hilda said with a smile.   
  


Then, there was a pounding at the door.   
  


"I'll go get it." Kyrie said as she paused the movie and got up from the couch.   
  


"No, you stay here." Nico argued as she rushed to the door. Hilda stayed close to Kyrie in case it was an ambush.   
  


More pounding came...and a voice this time.   
  


"Kyrie! Nico! Open the door!" Nero yelled.   
  


"Nero? What the-"   
  


As Nico opened the door, Nero came barreling through while still carrying Vergil. "I need a table. We don't have much time left." Nero stated.   
  


Kyrie nodded and cleared off the table everyone had eaten at earlier as quickly as she could. Hilda rushed over to help as well.   
  


"Where's Lady and Trish?" Nico asked as she helped Nero lift Vergil onto the table.   
  


"They're on their way." Nero replied.   
  


"And Dante?" Kyrie asked as she grabbed a pillow and put it carefully under the son of Sparda's head.   
  


"The Silver Order did something to him. He ran off with the Yamato." He answered with regret that he couldn't stop him in his voice.   
  


"I see." She said softly.   
  


With the chaos that had just happened, Hilda realized she hadn't really looked at the man that Nero carried in. As she came in for a closer look, she felt light headed and fell to the floor.   
  


"Woah, hey! Are you okay?" Nico asked her as she grabbed her as best she could.   
  


"Y-Yes, it's nothing." Hilda responded as she shook it off. "What do we need to do?"   
  


"I need you to use your blood to seal Vergil's demon side away before he fully splits." Nero explained.   
  


"Splits? Wait, Nero, this is-" Hilda asked confused before being cut off.   
  


"It's a long story, I'll explain later." He hastily told her.   
  


"B-But Nero, I don't think my power works that way. What if it kills him?" She argued.   
  


"It's the only option we have. Please," he said as he gently held her hand as if he was pleading with her, "I can't let him die without trying."   
  


Hilda took a deep breath. "Okay, I'll do it.”   
  


“Thank you.” Nero said with a sigh of relief as he released her hand.   
  


With shaking hands, Hilda used her ring to draw blood and created a needle. Before she could stick Vergil with it, he looked over at her with hooded eyes filled with questions.   
  


"Have we...met before?" He asked her.   
  


"I-I don't know. I'm sorry if I mess this up." Hilda stuttered as she focused on the task at hand.   
  


"Wait…what are you-"   
  


Before Vergil could stop her, Hilda stuck him with the needle. He writhed in pain before going limp on the table.   
  


"Is he…" Hilda asked, concerned she just killed him.   
  


Nero hesitantly checked his pulse and let out a sigh of relief. "He's fine. I think he just passed out."   
  


Hilda relaxed and also sighed. "Thank goodness."   
  


"Well, that’s enough excitement for one day. I'm going to bed." Nico said as she yawned and stretched.   
  


"Yes, it's been a long day. Should we wait up for Lady and Trish?" Kyrie asked Nero.   
  


"I'll wait for them. You go to sleep." He answered before kissing her gently on her forehead.   
  


Kyrie blushed and nodded before being helped up the stairs by Nico.   
  


"You should go to bed too." Nero said to Hilda who had been standing over Vergil's body in deep thought.   
  


"I don't know if I can. At least, not until I know he's okay." She said with a shake of her head.   
  


"I'll watch him for you. When he wakes up, I'll come get you, okay?" Nero bargained with her gently.   
  


Hilda gave him a soft smile and a nod. "Okay. Thank you, Nero."   
  


Nero smiled back and nodded in acknowledgement. As for Hilda, she made her way back upstairs to her room. Once her body landed on the bed, she instantly fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion. Even though she was completely worn out, it didn’t stop the dreams she had of what seemed like a past life to her.


End file.
